Hello all. I have a new found interest in reading well-made field guides that don't only serve as just a reference, but also contain important historical information to the area/the taxa, local anecdotes, and/or creative illustrations. I've done a bit of searching around on this site, however I am sure there is an existing thread of this type, and I am wondering what everyone's favorite field guides are? Aside from the Lynx Edicions Handbook of the Mammals of the World and Handbook of the Birds of the World, which I have only been able to afford to purchase one volume of the previous, I find that the Phillipps' Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo and Their Ecology: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan (Princeton Field Guides) is one of my favorite guides so far. Not only was it really helpful in identifying smaller mammal species seen while spot lighting in Tanjung Puting, like pygmy bark-eating squirrels and tree rat species, it is also a very beautifully illustrated. It was also very engaging to read and the illustrations and short snippets of information such as, ground cuckoos following sun bears, orangutans hunting slow loris, and homo sapiens' migration maps through the island, are all reasons I love this book so much! So what is everyone else favorite field guides and why? Has anyone read the Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar by Frank Glaw and Miguel Vences? I heard it was a great reference for Malagasy herps.
I think the best field guide to North American Birds is Sibley Guide to Birds of North America by David Allen Sibley. The paintings are wonderful, and it includes species that aren't on the ABA-checklist.
I think that "Neotropical rainforest mammals : A field guide" by Louise Emmons is an excellent book and the one I own is well thumbed due to all the use it has seen over the years. Another guide I find myself constantly refering to for ID purposes on a weekly basis is "A fieldguide to the birds of Brazil" by Ber Perlo. Then there is "A Neotropical companion" by John Kricher which isn't quite a fieldguide as such but does serve extremely well as a comprehensive introduction to ecosystems and ecology of the region.
